Biometric authentication in the Cloud will increasingly be seen as the foundation for enhancing and securing the customer journey, according to new research by Acuity Market Intelligence.In a new white paper launched today, Acuity forecasts that by 2022, 5.6 billion biometric mobile devices will secure 1.37 trillion biometrically-enabled payment and non-payment transactions.”Biometrics are a global phenomenon that financial service players ignore at their peril,” according to Maxine Most, Acuity's Principal and lead analyst. “On-device smartphone biometrics may improve the user authentication experience, but the big financial service payoff will come from Cloud-biometrics that also provide secure, reliable identity assurance.””Pushing biometrics to 'the edge' of the financial service ecosystem, e.g. mobile devices, simplifies authentication and reduces friction, but on-device biometrics can only link a user to a specific device,” Most says. “Cloud-based, or server-side, biometrics simplify authentication and reduce friction while linking an individual to a Unique Verifiable Identity (UVI) that is device and platform independent, and provides a non-revocable user, not device-based, audit trail for each transaction.””Concerns about Cloud biometric data being vulnerable to theft and misuse have been sensationalized,” says Most. “Best practice approaches to deploy solutions purpose-built to secure biometrics address data storage and management concerns. This includes anonymous storage, disaggregating biometrics from other Personally Identifiable Information (PII) – including templates from multiple biometric modalities, and installing anti-spoofing and presentation attack countermeasures.””Biometrics in the Cloud support continuous authentication via behavioral biometrics, and enable multifactor 'escalation,' or step-up capabilities, that introduce biometric challenge and response protocols based on real-time risk assessments,” says Most. “Cloud biometrics should therefore be viewed as more than just a means to enhance the customer journey, but as a path to creating an intelligent, identity-centric platform that addresses authentication risk across the entire financial service enterprise.”To read “Taming the Authentication Beast: Simplifying and Enhancing the Customer Journey with Biometrics in the Cloud”, click here.
Recent Articles
- Identity Week Europe 2026 raises the bar with 10 first-time speakers making their debut
- Sumsub joins World Economic Forum Unicorn Community to tackle AI fraud and advance inclusive digital identity
- Air carrier interface integrated into EES strategy
- Kentucky’s first mobile ID accepted for air travel
- FRONTEX expert to headline security document design at Identity Week Europe 2026
Recent Video
- New non-profit trade association of HAND will standardise global talent ID
- No cards, no phones: J.P. Morgan’s biometric revolution in payments
- Anthony Vidiano on building the future of access management
- Charisma Check wins 2025 Start-Up Pitching Competition, advancing identity verification and background checks for dating app users
- How to protect one billion Amazon customers: Lessons from continuous risk assessments
